VALDOSTA — A taste of New Orleans food and music comes to Valdosta June 12.

That’s when Ray City Mayor Carl Camon and the Mayor’s Youth Leadership Institute are bringing New Orleans chef and jazz band to the Valdosta-Lowndes County Conference Center for a night celebrating the spicy flair of the Big Easy.

Chef Leon Courtney will perform a 35-40 minute cooking demonstration, and he and his staff will prepare a buffet of New Orleans cuisine. The Stooges Jazz Brass Band will set the mood with a selection of toe-tapping tunes throughout the night.

Camon said the idea for the second Taste of New Orleans came after he and students in the Youth Leadership Institute visited the city in 2001. The group tasted some of Courtney’s dishes a hotel and thought the breakfast he prepared was exceptional.

Courtney answered Camon’s call and participated in the first Taste of New Orleans in April 2002. About 240 people packed O’Neill’s Country Buffet.

“We had a good turnout from a four-county area,” Camon said.

Because the event turned out so successfully, Camon expects a bigger turnout this year at the larger venue.

For a $38.50 ticket, you will get a entertainment by a jazz band, a demonstration by Courtney and a buffet meal. A drawing for door prizes will also be conducted during the evening. “It’s a good price for a trip to New Orleans,” Camon said.

“It’s a South Georgia adventure everyone can take part in.”

Guest speaker will be Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor. Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin is also scheduled to attend.

Profits from the event benefit educational scholarships, drug prevention and teen pregnancy prevention programs, educational field trips, as well as leadership enhancement programs for area youth.

Tickets for A Taste of New Orleans are available at Ray City Hall.

You may also call (229) 455-2501 or (229) 548-2708 and have tickets mailed. The event is at 6:30 p.m. June 12.

Corporate sponsors are Sears, Adel Steel Co. and Citizens Bank in Valdosta and Ray City. Camon said the Youth Leadership Institute is seeking other corporate sponsors.



To contact City Editor Heath Griner, call (229) 244-3400, ext. 274.